Gigwise session: Shields 'Mezzanine'

Kicking off our 2013 Gigwise Presents season in London earlier this month, our night at East London's Shacklewell Arms was headlined by rising Newcastle band Shields, who staged a spectacular show at the Hackney venue.

Ahead of their performance, we caught up with the band to talk about making music in 2013 and how they feel London is ‘the hub’ of the UK music scene.

The Newcastle five-piece have been labelled as one of the biggest emerging guitar and synth bands of 2013, but as they say in the session (below) they'd rather not be slapped with any particular tag, saying: "If someone's making good music it doesn't matter whether it's with a guitar or a synthesiser. If you write good music, you'll do alright."

The alt-pop group released their Kaleidoscope EP in November last year and lead track 'Mezzanine' epitomises Shields' breezy yet punchy sound.